A handful of chilli padi

A mainstay in the tacklebox of anglers in South East Asia, the Zerek Chilli Padi tungsten jig has been tested and proven across Singapore and Malaysian waters. We take a deeper look to understand why this mighty mite of a jig is so popular.

Us Asians love our spices and the Zerek Chilli Padi’s namesake is the small, yet extremely spicy pepper that’s used commonly in Southeast Asian cooking. Great name by the way. Just as potent as its namesake, the Zerek Chilli Padi has proven to be extremely effective to a wide variety of both pelagic and bottom fishes that are drawn to its small profile and erratic falling pattern. More on that later.

Tungsten

I think that one of the key reasons why this jig is so successful is that it takes full advantage of tungsten, a metal that’s 1.7 times denser than lead. What does that mean exactly? While we most often fish lead jigs, tungsten’s advantage is that being denser than lead, jigs made from tungsten can be much smaller in profile, and sink even faster as compared to a larger lead jig of the same weight. 

This allows the Zerek Chilli Padi to fall faster as they sink, getting into the strike zone much quicker. This is important especially when fishing on a boat with a strong drift. Getting into the strike zone fast, means that your jig is often the first to hit the schooling fishes. I’ve seen this effect multiple times. Even fishing side by side with another angler, getting into the strike zone first means that you get the first hit and hopefully, the first fish.

Smaller profile

You can see clearly from the above picture that for a jig in the same weight class, the Zerek Chilli Padi is substantially smaller. That smaller profile leads to a more agile and attractive action underwater, and also makes the jig easier to be taken in a single gulp. 

Cost-Effective

Zerek has priced these jigs very well. A lead JDM branded jig can come in at a price range of SGD$7 to SGD$9. Prices that anglers are willing to pay for a proven quality and branded lead jig. At the entry point of SGD$8.10 for the 10g Zerek Chilli Padi and SGD$11.50 for the 18g model, these jigs aren’t overly pricey and often-times, are the gateway drug to tungsten jigs. For anglers who have never used a tungsten jig before, that price point is good enough that they might give it a shot. 

Action

While the above factors can also be attributed to other tungsten jigs, what makes me keep coming back to the Zerek Chilli Padi is its action. For such a tiny jig, it packs a ton of action. Just letting this jig fall produces an erratic side-to-side falling pattern that mimics an injured bait fish, while giving it a twitch with your rod tip triggers the darting motion of an escaping bait fish. 

Orange spotted grouper on the Zerek Chilli Padi

If I’m targeting bottom dwellers, my go-to move is to drop the Zerek Chilli Padi to the bottom, then take 2 to 3 twitches up, and a tensioned drop back down. Quite a standard move, but one that’s been proven effective many many times. 

Longfin Trevally (Sagai)
One of my favorite ways to use the Zerek Chilli Padi is to target pelagics! On a fast retrieve and a slight twitching motion of the rod tip, the Zerek Chilli Padi accelerates and slides just enough to make it irresistible to one of our favorite local game fish, the longfin trevally (Sagai). 

The tiny profile of the Zerek Chilli Padi makes its one of the most effective methods to target the longfin trevally. In fact, that alone probably makes up for a large portion of its sales! It’s simple enough, you drop the jig into a fast current and let it sink. The tungsten body accelerates its descent and when you fast retrieve it back, you’re able to search the water column for the longfin trevally. Take note of at which point of the retrieve you hit the fish, and drop back down to that depth again. Hard fighting and great fun on light tackle, the Sagai also happens to be delicious cooked in a variety of ways. 

What Could Be Improved

All in, the Zerek Chilli Padi is a great buy at its price. Though a couple of things could be improved. The jig doesn’t include hooks, meaning that you’ll need to pick up a set of assist hooks to go along and it’s not ready to fish right out of the packet. Some anglers do prefer matching their own assist hooks, so this might not be an issue for many.

The eyelet. I’ve used this jig on boats as well as on shore, and while it has also proven to be just as effective from shore as offshore, I prefer to use it on boats. I’ve had the eyelet break off before, and that same issue has been reported to me by other anglers. Casting from boats and targeting pelagics, you don’t typically hit hard surfaces. Dropping from boats to target bottom fishes also don’t generate much velocity. Casting from shore however can sometimes hit barely submerged reefs and rocks that are hidden from sight on shore. On those occasions, retrieving back your line to see only the eyelet left can be annoying.

On the other hand, the large eyelet also makes it easy to put on split rings and assist hooks, so perhaps that’s a bit of a give and take situation.

Feisty Little Jig

Kudos to Zerek Innovation on several points. The name of this jig is a clear winner. Easily recognizable to its target audience of Southeast Asian folks like us, the Zerek Chilli Padi is a feisty little jig that delivers well above its price point. It’s a great entry level tungsten jig that you wouldn’t feel anxiety every time you snag it. Just like the chilli padi too, it’s a great accompaniment to different types of games and is very versatile. Small areas of improvement, but overall a great jig.

Get your Zerek Chilli Padi Tungsten Jig here